Senator Lee Withdraws Public Lands Sale Amendment After Bipartisan Opposition, Harmful Arctic Drilling Provisions Remain

Washington, DC - Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) yesterday withdrew his amendment to the One Big Beautiful Act that would have mandated the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of Bureau of Land Management public lands across 11 Western states, citing his inability to guarantee the lands wouldn't be sold to foreign interests like China. The withdrawal came after sustained bipartisan opposition from elected officials and the American public who understood that America's public lands should remain in public hands.

Below is a statement from Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation, which represents a national network of community advocates who are solely focused on the public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management including the 38 million acres of National Conservation Lands.

"While the Conservation Lands Foundation celebrates this critical victory for public lands, the Senate's budget reconciliation package still contains many harmful provisions that sell out America's public lands and waters, most notably Western Arctic drilling requirements that will decimate critical wildlife habitat in America's largest remaining piece of intact public land.

“Senator Lee’s public land sell-off amendment was on the wrong side of history and the American people. Polling consistently shows overwhelming bipartisan support for protecting public lands, and millions of Americans expressed fierce opposition to his sell-off scheme through calls, emails, and public comments.

"We thank the senators and representatives from both parties—including Senators Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Risch (R-Idaho), and others who stood on the right side of this issue—for their principled opposition to selling off America's public lands. Their voices, combined with the overwhelming public opposition, forced Senator Lee to abandon his dangerous proposal to sell off 1.2 million acres of public lands and shut out public access to irreplaceable places local communities use and rely on daily—beloved trailheads and access points for hiking, biking, hunting, off-highway vehicle recreation, and fishing. 

"While we celebrate this important victory for public lands, we remain deeply concerned about the provisions mandating oil and gas lease sales in the Western Arctic. Selling out the Western Arctic to oil and gas companies would cause devastating harm to largely intact ecosystems that support Arctic Indigenous communities and subsistence access, millions of migratory birds, the Western Arctic and Teshekpuk Lake caribou herds, spawning fish and other marine life.

"More than 250,000 people commented in support of Western Arctic protections. We call on all U.S. Senators to act on behalf of the majority of the American public by rejecting this shortsighted proposal to decimate one of the largest intact wild landscapes in the U.S.

"America's public lands are integral to the fabric of our nation: protecting them for the benefit of all Americans is in the national interest. The American public’s passionate and loud opposition to Lee’s amendment sends an unignorable message to elected officials that Americans care deeply about public lands, but our work is far from over. Public lands must remain in public hands for everyone to enjoy, not just the greedy few."